Texas sues EEOC over LGBT guidance

September 2021 employment law letter

Authors:

H. Juanita Beecher, FortneyScott

On September 20, 2021, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Texas and its agencies in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas challenging the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) LGBT guidance (https://bit.ly/3EEurEl). Known as the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) Discrimination Guidance, it interpreted the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Bostock v. Clayton County GA as requiring employers to allow trans employees to use the bathrooms, clothes, and locker rooms of their gender identity. The Texas lawsuit, one of several filed against the EEOC's guidance, argues the guidance misinterprets the Supreme Court's Bostock decision and that EEOC Chair Charlotte Burrows did not have the authority to issue it.

Long COVID may qualify as disability

On September 9, 2021, the EEOC updated its COVID-19 guidance (https://bit.ly/3u32dOP) to include the following statement on long COVID:

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